Mideast to Be UN Agenda Topic

September 13, 1974

UNITED NATIONS (Sep. 12)

A decision on the inclusion of the Middle East as an item on the agenda of the General Assembly will be taken Monday, one day before the 29th session of the GA begins. The Mideast topic will then be the 11th item of the GA.

Under-Secretary General Bradford Morse explained today that the closing session of last year’s assembly did not take up the Mideast issue because of the Yom Kippur War and therefore, the assembly did not officially close but merely adjourned. Last year’s GA had the Mideast on its agenda for discussion, but with the intervention of the war, the agenda topic was not taken up in the normal course of discussions as had been planned.

Replying to a reporter’s question about the Palestinian issue. Morse said no request has been made to place this on the GA’s agenda. Observers here, however, did not rule out the possibility that this issue would be placed on the agenda at a later time. Sources here indicated that a Palestinian delegation is expected to arrive at the UN during the assembly session. A rumor circulating in the corridors of the UN today had it that Yasir Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is expected at the UN. Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Bouteflika will be nominated President of the GA.